Enjoy the Sweeter Side of Life . . .

Wild Wings

There’s something about eating wings and watching sports that go so well together. Perhaps it’s the casual culture of eating wings that is so appealing, the fact that you eat with your hands or that beer is the beverage of choice for both wings and sports is what ties the it all together. With the Phillies in the World Series, wings had been on my mind recently so when I saw a picture in our daily newspaper of wings being cooked at Wild Wings, I thought it was sign that they were in my near future.

Brittany and I discussed this at work, and wings sounded like a good idea to her as well. She suggested that we have a get together at her place for the third game of the Series, and so we called a few people and everyone readily agreed. Since we figured it would be a busy day for Wild Wings, Brittany called a day ahead and placed our order. She was pleased with how friendly they were when she called, and she told them I would be arriving the next day to pick up our order.

Saturday evening rolled around, and Jill and I drove to Wild Wings at 1843 East Wheat Road, just off of Main Road. The small parking lot was full, but we managed to get a spot. We walked up, opened the door and were hit with the sounds and smells of a busy kitchen.

Enjoying watching the kitchen at work

We were immediately struck by the smell of deep fried chicken. The rich smell permeated the air, and it was a wonderful aroma. I was hungry enough as it was, but this really got my tummy growling.

The sounds were what struck me next, and they were plentiful. The sizzle of wings in the fryers was what I noticed first. The unmistakable sound of deep frying was punctuated by other sounds from the kitchen; the exhaust hood pumping steam and smoke from the building, the phone seemingly ringing of the hook, the crinkle of plastic bags being opened and filled, and the constant ‘cha-ching’ of the cash register.

I loved the fact that the kitchen was open, since it allowed me to see and experience what was going on in the back of the house. The two young men working the fryers worked with silent focus, and the two folks working the counter moved with the same intensity.

Steve checks out the accolades

As I waited in line, I couldn’t help but notice all the accolades Wild Wings has gathered for their wings and ribs, and I became very glad that we decided to get a slab of ribs as well. Another posting I saw on the wall was from the City of Vineland Health Department applauding Wild Wings on their excellence in maintaining a safe food environment. I know from experience that keeping a kitchen clean and safe is no easy task and is a lot of work, so I was definitely happy to see that Five Star Award posted to proudly.

This is a good sign that the food will be good!

After a few minutes, it was our turn and our order was quickly found. I asked the gentleman working the counter how good of a night it had been for them, with the Series an all, and he was pleased to tell me that it had been very good thus far. I paid for the order and Jill and I filed through the folks that had arrived after us, and we made our way over to Brittany’s.

In her kitchen, we unloaded the wings and ribs, as well as potato salad and pickled green beans that I had made earlier. The green beans had turned out particularly well. I had cleaned them, and then blanched them for a minute or two in salted boiling water.

The haul!

I then brought a simple pickle brine to a boil (vinegar, water, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, and some other spices), cooled it and poured the brine over the beans. Since I didn’t seal them in a jar, I just put the whole container in the fridge to keep them safe. They came our crunchy, sour and salty. I figured that they would go well with the wings, and they did!

Oh and the wings were tasty. Brittany had been concerned with getting five different flavors because she didn’t want to bother the cooks at Wild Wings on such a busy night, but they were happy to accommodate our request and each container was labeled for us; mild, medium, wild (hot), sweet and sour, and BBQ. In each container was a little celery stick, wrapped in a wet paper to keep it fresh (an excellent touch, I might add) and a small container of blue cheese dressing. It didn’t take long for us to dig in…

The consensus favorite seemed to be the medium, since it had a nice balance of flavor and heat. The wings were nicely cooked, crunchy and hot, and were good and meaty. The various sauces were fun to try, and the ribs were excellent was well. All in all, it was a very nice experience. I don’t eat wings very often, but when I get a hankering next time, I’ll be calling the place that named itself after this most American of foods… Wild Wings.